Each semester, members of Rhythm n Motion (RnM) recreate our internal worlds on stage. This Saturday, from 8:00 to 9:00 at LPAC, the dancers will mirror our own joy, excitement, and fear through their movement.
RnM is the largest and longest dance group in the campus. Founded in 2001 by Jumatatu Poe ‘04, now a part-time assistant professor of dance in the College, RnM consisted of enthusiastic dancers from the Tri-Co community. It is rooted in promoting the dances of the African Diaspora, but has since branched out to celebrate all underrepresented dance forms, aiming to raise awareness of contemporary genres of dance such as hip-hop, jazz, and dancehall. This saturday, they will present to the audience several African dances, which are all choreographed by the dancers in the group. Dancer Wendy Xu ’15 said”‘It is really nice to have a lot of African dances; we are getting back to our roots.”
According to Xu, the African dances they are going to perform on Saturday are not all traditional. They will incorporate different types of dances, such as hip-hop and jazz, and some dance performances will have specific themes. One of the dance piece will have a ‘Haunted House’ theme while another piece will explore marital problems. However, not every dance performance will have a theme, and it is up to the choreographers to decide what message they want to convey through the dances to the audience.
One piece is set to feature traditional Chinese dance. This piece is choreographed by Catherine Xiang ’15, who studied with Liping Yang, a renowned Chinese dancer famous for her ethnic dance. “My piece in the show is based on one of her pieces called ‘Country of Daughters.’ This piece is a culmination and interpretation of the many ways her work has inspired me,” Xiang explained,”The spoken word in this piece is one that the Mosuo women of Yunnan sing to themselves when working. The song provides comfort to these women in face of the hardships they experience in their daily lives; but more importantly, it provides strength and energy to their spirits.”
Xu also choreographed a hip-hop piece that is named ‘Turn it up’. She said this will be a very special piece because all the male dancers except one in the group will be in the first part of the dance. “I am really excited about it. It is so nice to have all guys in one piece. It looks really masculine,” she explained.
The last few days before the actual performance mean intensive rehearsals. As everyone in the group is very busy and under a lot of stress, all of the dancers work harder whenever they have the chance to rehearse and try to make each other feel better. The better they feel, the better they dance. When talking about her relationship with other members of the group, Xu said “It is a great time commitment. We are all very close to each other.”
This will be RnM’s only performance of the semester. If by any chance you are not able to come to thel show this Saturday evening, the group will have a dress rehearsal on Friday and it is open to everyone in the campus.
The door opens at 7:30 this Saturday. Come early and claim a seat.
